Survival

Key Survival Items

You may be thinking 'well what now?' You’ve managed to persist through one day of Minecraft and you’re not sure what to do next. Well a good way to proceed is in the construction of a few key items that will ensure your survivability in the coming days.

Weapons

Perhaps an obvious one, but creating a sword and bow for yourself should be priority one. You’ll be investigating unknown depths and you will need to defend yourself against numerous horrors, so get equipped.

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Armor

Steve isn’t the most durable of avatars in just his blue t-shirt and jeans so you should think about getting some more durable gear before you partake in any serious spelunking. Leather is the first material you’ll be able to find above ground by killing cows but Iron doesn’t take too much of a dig either. Create something suitable between these two sources and then start digging properly, working your way up the materials as you find them to ensure you’re covered before any big excursions you have planned.

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Food

For all the weapons and armor you can equip they will be for nought if you don’t have some sustenance in your belly keeping you on your feet. The food bar sits to the bottom right and will tick down over time. Should it run out, you’ll start taking genuine health damage over time and, if you’re playing on hard difficulty, this can be fatal. Pack some snacks.

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Torches

A light source is perhaps the most valuable thing to have in Minecraft so make sure you always have an ample supply of torches in your pockets and don’t skimp on placing them - simply destroying one more tree can yield a whole fresh stack of light emitting batons so use them regularly. If, by chance, you are short then you can 'destroy' placed torches to reclaim them and re-use them.

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Bed

When you die in Minecraft you lose everything you’re carrying and spawn in a random spot in the map. This is bad. To circumvent this you’ll want to build a bed as soon as possible because sleeping in a bed sets it as your spawn point. Remember to have a chest nearby and fill it with items not essential to your current excursion, and use spare materials to create extra weapons and armour - should the worst happen having spares will help you get back on your feet quickly.

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Map

The map isn’t perfect, and you can do a lot for your navigation by creating breadcrumb trails of, say, torches or building your house tall, but a map will give you a good idea of where you are and where you have been.